Movies

Plant wars

3x52' / 2004

Basile Sallustio

Since the beginning of time, human beings all over the world have made use of plants for healing purposes. These three documentaries tell the story of medicinal plants.

Two-thirds of the Earth's population still rely on some form of traditional medicine. In Africa, Asia and Latin America, complex and subtle medical knowledge has survived to this day, handed down via comprehensive oral traditions.

Meanwhile, in the West, with the development of medicinal chemistry and universal access to health care during the first half of the 20th century, traditional healing practices and the use of medicinal plants gradually came to be seen as esoteric pastimes.

After a gap of almost a century, the West is rediscovering the benefits of plant medicine. As a result of the new recognition that medicine needs to centre around the person as a whole, we are taking another look at this traditional discipline. Plant medicine, which has continued to thrive unabated in the southern hemisphere, is now experiencing a revival in western countries.